


Tinsel

by raven_bird



Series: Christmas Challenge 2015 [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5340461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_bird/pseuds/raven_bird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Potter, you moron, are you colorblind? That’s pink. Change it.”</p>
<p>“It’s red.”</p>
<p>“It’s pink.” Draco tore the piece of tinsel from Harry’s hands, shaking it in the air. Little pieces of the shiny material fell off and drifted to the ground. Harry watched as they floated down, wondering how on earth he had got in this position. “I would have thought you’d be able to tell the difference, if only because you spent <i>seven years of your life</i> dressing in red and gold for Gryffindor.”</p>
<p>“I <i>can</i> tell the difference. And this is red.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tinsel

**Author's Note:**

> Written (late) for this [ Christmas Prompt Challange ](http://alloftheprompts.tumblr.com/post/134349883493/25-days-christmas-romance-challenge)
> 
> Thanks to Laney for tagging me in it. ;)
> 
> Prompt: Character A and Character B, sworn enemies, are chosen to prepare the company Christmas Party.

“Potter, you moron, are you colorblind? That’s pink. Change it.”

“It’s red.”

“It’s pink.” Draco tore the piece of tinsel from Harry’s hands, shaking it in the air. Little pieces of the shiny material fell off and drifted to the ground. Harry watched as they floated down, wondering how on earth he had got in this position. “I would have thought you’d be able to tell the difference, if only because you spent _seven years of your life_ dressing in red and gold for Gryffindor.”

“I _can_ tell the difference. And this is red.” Harry ripped the string of tinsel back and used his wand to float it up to the ceiling. Directing a permanent sticking charm at it, he turned back to Malfoy, satisfied.

Draco uncrossed his arms, following Harry’s lead and pulling out his wand. Before Harry could say anything, Malfoy had jabbed his wand towards the tinsel, which instantly went up in flames. Before Harry could even shout, they extinguished themselves.

“What the hell, Malfoy?” started Harry, turning, “You almost burnt down the building. Are you insane?”

Draco snorted. “Yes, because I’m going to risk going back to Azkaban over tinsel. It wouldn’t have caught anything else on fire, I’m not an idiot. I know the safety for fire spells.”

The large hall that the Ministry had rented for their Christmas party was still empty, the dirty-white walls bare of all ornaments and decorations. Draco had tried to hide his disgust when they had first apparated into the place (peeling paint probably didn’t appeal much to a man who had grown up in a manor, Harry supposed), but even Harry had to admit that it was going to be a challenge to make the place appealing.

It was going to be even more of a challenge to work with Malfoy all evening. Sure, they were both in the auror apartment, but they had spent the last few years communicating solely through nods and one-word answers to questions. This, Harry thought, was an incredible improvement from the animosity from their Hogwarts years. And it had worked.

At least, until now.

It was all Hermione’s fault, really, that he was even here. Or Ron’s. Hermione was the one who had originally been put on decorating duty, but Ron had planned some elaborate date that couldn’t be rescheduled. The two of them had approached Harry just days before, and practically begged him to take Hermione’s place for the night.

They hadn’t told him that Draco Malfoy was also working on decorations until after he had agreed.

Because Harry was such a great friend, he hadn’t backed out on them. Though he was still considering it. He glanced at his watch -- 7:30 PM. There was still time to leave.

And what, leave Malfoy to mess up all the decorations? Not on his watch.

He sighed, unboxing some more christmas ornaments. There were a couple of stickers with cartoonish depictions of reindeer, some ornaments (they had yet to find an actual tree to hang them on), and a distinctly unnerving model snowman that was missing one of its coal eyes. Harry frowned at it, absentmindedly picking up a santa hat that he had found and pulling it on.

Draco, on the other hand, was pulling string after string of tinsel out of the box. It was all the same colour as the first piece that they had encountered. Harry hid a smile as he watched Draco flush in apparent frustration as he unearthed each piece.

“That’s it.” Draco muttered, pointing his wand at the pile. Seconds later, the colour had changed to scarlet.

Harry wasn’t going to let this stand. Yes, the pigment was slightly more red than before (not that he’d admit it), but Harry wasn’t going to let Malfoy have his way. Pretending to examine a sparkly silver ornament, he waited until the other man had his back turned. Quickly, he reverted the colour back to its original shade, and then shoved his wand back in his pocket before Malfoy could notice anything. Picking up the Christmas stickers, he walked to the nearest window and began pressing them to the glass, pretending to be entirely focused on his task.

From behind him, he heard Draco curse. Then footsteps. Harry turned around just in time to see Draco walking towards him, clenching his fists at his sides without seeming to notice what he was doing. Harry did his best to keep a straight face, but he had always been a horrid liar.

“What?”

“If you’re going to keep changing the co--”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You--” Malfoy paused, and let out an angry breath. Harry noticed that his cheeks were flushed again. “I can’t believe you.”

Harry bit down on a grin.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. “Fine. Keep your pink decorations. As long as I get to throw that god-awful snowman in the garbage where it belongs.”

Harry nudged the one-eyed snowman towards Draco. “C’mon. You wouldn’t. This thing is a work of art.”

“It’s going.” Draco quickly vanished it, the colour fading from his cheeks. As he put away his wand, he said, “That hat looks ridiculous, by the way.”

In answer, Harry pulled the white trim further down over his head.

Even between the two of them, the decorating took much longer than Harry had anticipated. Between all the arguing over which decorations should be put up and which ones should be thrown away, there was barely enough time to find a spot for the decorations that they had been allotted. Even once they had done that, Malfoy had insisted on cleaning up the hall in general, and he had even disappeared for a while (coming back with a fresh Christmas tree, still covered in piles of snow).

When the place had finally seemed to meet Draco’s requirements, Harry had led the way to the door of the hall, pulling on his coat. Draco followed.

“You know,” said Malfoy, as they stood out on the front step, “If you take that hat home, you’re technically stealing from the Ministry.”

The wind was swirling the snowflakes around, only visible underneath the golden light from the street lamps. Harry smiled.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t have a criminal past. Undesirable Number One right here.”

“And here I thought you were turning over a new leaf.” Draco shook his head in mock disappointment.

Harry reached up, pulling the Santa hat off of his head. Quickly, he managed to tug it over Malfoy’s head. “There. Now you’re an accomplice.”

Blond tuffs of hair stuck out from under the hat, looking uncharacteristically dishevelled. Harry finally allowed himself a proper smile at the strange sight. Draco, too, seemed to be amused.

“Your hair is messy.”

“When isn’t it?” Harry asked. Draco shrugged.

“Fair point. But hat-head doesn’t help.”

Harry reached out and adjusted Draco’s hat. “You’ll have hat head, too, just you wait.”

“Lovely.” Malfoy wrinkled his nose.

Harry exhaled, and was instantly aware of Draco’s own puffs of breaths, causing clouds of white steam to billow out into the frigid air. And then he was looking at the other man’s lips.

His hand was still near Draco’s head, but it had come to rest on the back of his neck. 

Draco shivered.

“Cold?”

“Yes.”

Malfoy hesitated, and then slid his arm inside Harry’s coat, wrapping it around Harry’s waist to draw him closer. This was all Harry needed. Without wasting another second, he leaned in and they were kissing, and Draco was moving closer, and Harry was immediately warm, despite the cold winter air.

That didn’t stop him for a second, though, when Draco whispered, “Let’s get out of the cold.” The two of them apparated out of the doorway, leaving nothing left but two sets of footprints in the thick snow.

 

 

 

“I have to admit, Harry,” said Hermione, scanning the room. It was filled with their co-workers, their chattering filling up the room with a pleasant hum. “You and Draco did a better job at decorating than I thought you would have.” Ron nodded in agreement.

Harry smiled at them. Nearby, Draco stepped away from the other Ministry employee he had been talking with, and walked towards them. “I’ll have you know that it was me doing all the heavy lifting, though.”

“Just… one thing.” Ron pointed at the tinsel that was draped across the walls. “Why’s it pink?”

Draco winked at Harry, who suddenly couldn’t have cared less about the colour of the tinsel.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos or a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> You can find me at [elderrwands](http://elderrwands.tumblr.com) on tumblr!


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